Here are a small collection of 24 memorial cards dating from the
late nineteenth and early twentieth century with the earliest
dated 1889 and the most recent from 1925. They are mostly for
St. Giles' burials, but a few of those commemorated in this
way were interred at St. Helen's Church, Darley Dale and there
is one person who was buried at Lea. In these cases they or
their relatives were from Matlock originally, or had lived
in the town for many years.

The cards shown here were mostly folding cards, approximately
3" x 4" in size, with the fold on the left and the opening
on the right, though some opened outwards from the centre; there
is just one example of this design in the collection. A suitable
religious picture and text was on the front, usually surrounded
by a black border and enclosed ins another border of a silvery
grey (or vice versa). The card opened onto a double page
with a short verse or quotation on the left and the name of the
deceased and details of their death and burial on the right. This
section often also stated the deceased was "the beloved wife/
husband of " or "child/son/daughter of". The backs
were blank although there was sometimes a printer's number.

There are also a few that were single cards with no picture; these
also had plain backs.

The cards would have been sent to friends, relatives and acquaintances
by the bereaved family after the funeral had taken place - the
burials are all referred to in the past tense. The card's white
envelope with its black border, often thick, would have been unmistakable
when it dropped through the letterbox. The main printers in Matlock
from 1900 to 1916 were George Hodgkinson of Holt Lane and Henry
Roberts of Crown Square.

The images are almost all shown in the following order:
the front;
the deceased's
details;
the verse or quotation, where given.
This
is followed a little information about the person commemorated on
the card.

Mary Alsop [Allsopp], nee Wildgoose and formerly
Stevenson, was living on Snitterton Road when she died, aged 79,
in Matlock. She and her first husband, Matthew Stevenson, were at
Belle Vue Hydro for around twenty years. She subsequently married
Adam Allsopp and continued running Belle Vue for
a number of years.
See Belle
Vue Hydro | the 1891 census | the 1901 census
Also see her Will info,
Surnames A

James Bannister
Folding memorial card with black borders.

James Bannister was born in Derby in 1878, a
son of a watchmaker James Bannister and his wife Selina (nee Goodlad).
He was christened at St. Luke's, Derby on 13 April 1884. James snr.
died in 1886 and the family moved to Matlock, where their mother
had been born.
See the 1891 census |
the 1901 census.
In 1911, when the family were living on Jackson Road, he was employed
as a stone cutter.
His brother's memorial card is below.

William Bannister
Folding memorial card with black borders, surrounded by a silver edging.

William Bannister was born in Derby in 1883,
another son of the watchmaker James Bannister and his wife Selina
(nee Goodlad).
Following their father's death in 1886 the family moved to Matlock,
where their mother had been born.
See the 1891 census | the
1901 census.
In 1911, when the family were living on Jackson Road, he was employed
as a house porter at Hydro. He had previously worked as a baker.
His brother's memorial card is above.

Eliza Byard
Folding memorial card with silver borders, surrounded by a black edging.
Printer's code S266 is on the back.

Eliza Byard, nee Brown, died in Matlock
in 1922, aged 59. She had married John Byard, a builder, at the Wesleyan
Methodist Chapel in Bakewell in 1892.
The couple can be found in the
1901 census. In 1911 they lived on Cavendish Road with their
young son. She is also listed in Strays,
Surnames B for 1891.
John Byard, who survived Eliza, is shown as running apartments in
Kelly's 1908
Directory